Palestinian shot dead, 11 injured in Jerusalem car ramming attack

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian was shot and killed, and 11 people were wounded in a car ramming attack at an entrance of Jerusalem on Monday, Israel's army and media said.

Mickey Rosenfeld initially said eight people were injured when a "terrorist ran into a bus stop," adding that the Palestinian attacker was shot and critically injured during the attack, however later an Israeli army spokesperson said 11 had been injured.

Israeli media later reported that the Palestinian had succumbed to his wounds, identifying him as Abdel-Muhsen Hassuneh, 21, from occupied East Jerusalem's Beit Hanina neighborhood.

Of the eight ramming victims confirmed by Rosenfeld, one was in moderate condition and seven were lightly wounded. All are being treated at a hospital in Jerusalem. The condition of the other three reportedly injured is unknown.

On Sunday, Israeli forces shot and seriously injured a Palestinian teenager in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron after an alleged stabbing attempt, locals and the Israeli army said at the time.

An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an that “a Palestinian armed with knife attempted to stab a pedestrian in Hebron, when forces on site responded to the threat and shot the assailant.”

The alleged attacks are the latest to take place in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, where an escalation of violence that kicked off in October has continued full-fledged into December.

The recent violence has left at least 119 Palestinians killed by Israeli military and settlers and 19 Israelis killed in attacks carried out by Palestinian individuals.

The circumstances of several deaths since Oct. 1 have been widely disputed by critics who say that Israel has implemented a "shoot-to-kill" policy against Palestinians.

The Executive Director of Israeli rights group B'Tselem, Hagai El-Ad, said last week that the policy is being used against Palestinians who have already been “neutralized" during attacks.

El-Ad said in a statement that Israeli soldiers and police officers effectively became “judge, jury and executioner” after the policy was encouraged by senior Israeli politicians and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

PLO Central Council member Muhammad Eshteyyah in a press conference last week said that 85 percent of Palestinian deaths to take place since Oct. 1 could have been prevented if the “shoot-to-kill” policy was not implemented.